106 



HORTICULTURE 



February 7, 1920 



CAROLINA HEMLOCK 



(TSUGA CAROLINIANA) 

 THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND RARE AMERICAN EVERGREEN 



Specimens may be seen at Arnold Arboretum, where one may compare it with hundreds of other varie- 

 ties of Evergreens. 



Hardier and more adaptable to trying city conditions than the common or Canadian Hemlock. 



Dense, dark foliage and sweeping semi-pendulous branches with pyramidal form combine to give a 

 charm not found in any other known Evergreen. 



SPECIAL: A limited number of Grand specimens, 16 to 20 feet high for immediate effect at my High- 

 lands Nursery (3.700 ft. elevation in the Carolina Mountains). Prices on request. 



A fine stock of smaller specimens from 1 foot up at my Boxford Nursery. Catalogs. 



HARLAN P. KELSEY 



Hardy American Plants 



SALEM MASS. 



vention iu Cleveland next August, 

 when the organization will be made 

 permanent. 



RETAILERS' NIGHT. 



Important Meeting of the Florists' 



Association of Boston. 



Different branches of the trade are 

 having their innings at the monthly 

 m.eetings of the Florists' Association 

 of Boston. The meeting on Tuesday 

 night of this week was given over to 

 the retailers and they made the most 

 of it. President Henry Penn was in 

 the chair but after the opening put 

 Chairman Letson in charge. William 

 Penn, Elijah Gorney and several 

 others spoke. 



Mr. Gorney had carefully prepared 

 a paper which set forth the position 

 of the retailers and in a large meas- 

 ure summed up the remarks of the 

 other speakers. This paper was as 

 follows: 



"I fully agree with the growers that 

 they should get better returns for 

 their hard work and for their invest- 

 ment and energies. There is no rea- 

 son in the world why they should not 

 get better returns. I also agree with 

 Mr. Elliott that artificial flowers 

 should be done away with; they are a 

 detriment to our business. We should 

 in every way encourage the use of 

 fresh flowers and the growers should 

 help us hy not putting the screws on 

 too tight during the holidays. 



"I don't believe there is a retailer 

 in this room who objects to paying 

 the market price for flowers. We nat- 

 urally try to buy as cheaply as pos- 

 sible and the growers, on the other 

 hand, try to get as much as possible — 

 that is what creates a fair market 

 price. None of us begrudges the 

 grower what he gets. 



"I would like to know where the im- 

 pression was created that the retail- 

 ers were to boycott flowers during 

 Christmas. I know of no such move 

 and it was a false impression created 

 by some one who wanted to cause 

 trouble. If the retailers proposed boy- 



cotting they would be injuring their 

 own means of a livelihood, as our 

 business is to sell flowers and not 

 boycott them. 



"As a matter of fact we met and 

 discussed selling in general. During 

 our informal talks the suggestion was 

 made that we ought to push plants 

 instead of flowers. There were sev- 

 eral good reasons for that. In the 

 first place, our plants were all bought 

 quite reasonable and we could sell 

 them at a reasonable profit. On the 

 other hand, there was no way of tell- 

 ing what the market price of flowers 

 would be and w'e could not give our 

 customers any definite idea about 

 this. 



"This is the great drawback to the 

 cut flower business, but It can not be 

 helped as the old law of supply and 

 demand regulates the price of cut 

 flowers. The retailer pushes plants 

 at first but when the rush is over we 

 find that we have sold more flowers 

 than ever before. I have made that a 

 practice ever since I have been in 

 business and if that is what you call 

 Doycotting, then well and good; but I 

 believe that the plant business is as 

 much -a part of our business as the 

 cut flower trade. 



"On the strength of that I under- 

 stand that you growers intended to 

 open a market to the public. Of 

 course, if that is done and done often 

 enough it will put the retailer out of 

 business. Would that be of any ben- 

 efit to the grower and commission 

 man? It certainly would be detri- 

 mental to everybody. But the mar- 

 kets are open to the public right now 

 and on a large scale. Anybody can 

 come in any of the doors of the 

 market and buy anything in the mar- 

 ket at about the same price we pay. 

 For every bank opened, every ship 

 launched, every prominent funeral, 

 large amounts of flowers are made up 

 in the markets. Department store 

 collections in the stores also go to 

 the markets. 



"Two weeks ago one of our retail 



ers lost a $150.00 job because he 

 couldn't compete with the prices 

 given by a salesman in the market. 

 Last week I was asked the price of 

 one hundred red carnations for a 

 banquet. As the market was fifteen 

 cents, I quoted $20.00. He said to 

 me, 'I am sorry Gorney, but I can get 

 them from one of tlie men in the mar- 

 ket for $16.00." 



"Some of our customers have 

 charge accounts with commission men 

 in the market. I sold one dozen poin- 

 settias to a customer for $9.00 and 

 put them aside for him. The day be- 

 fore Christmas he told me he had 

 bought them in the market for $4.00. 

 I don't blame him for buying cheaper 

 but the fault is with us. Do you call 

 that fair to the retailer? 



"Here we are prepared under heavy 

 expenses for retailing and depend on 

 retailing only for our livelihood. The 

 markets are situated in the heart of 

 the city and the salesmen who sell 

 have no expenses as far as retailing 

 is concerned. In what other line of 

 business can the public go to buy any- 

 tliing at wholesale? I know of none. 

 Retailing in the market is of no ben- 

 efit to the grower; it is only side 

 money to the salesman, that does not 

 belong to him but does belong to us. 

 It is a very serious matter and must 

 be stopped. Every retailer is dissat- 

 isfied with this condition and I be- 

 lieve if the market directors take 

 action to prevent this that it will be 

 a great comfort to all concerned. 



DESTROYED BY HAIL 



lAst Samzner a florist who had imagined 



he was outBide of the hat] section lost 



upwards of 50.000 square feet of glass 



by hail with no insurance to reoom- 



pense him. 



He is now a member of the Florists' 



Hail Association of America. 



Profit by experience and Join the Abbo- 



ciatioi now. Address 



JOHN O. ESLER, Secretary 

 Saddle River New Jersey 



